Low Cosmetic SurgeryCost and Low Safety Rates

USA Today’s Jayne O’Donnell recently reported on controversial cosmetic surgery centers that offer faster procedures for lower prices. Over the past few years, cosmetic centers all over the country–including Lifestyle Lift, a national chain with locations in Pittsburgh and Cherry Hill–have been receiving negative attention for causing some of their patients undue pain and even death.

Such inexpensive surgical centers are part of what is being called the “commoditization of cosmetic surgery,” a phrase which likens them to restaurants or car washes; businesses concerned with serving as many customers as possible. The problem here is that more patients and faster procedures may result in lower safety rates.

Take Strax Rejuvenation for example. O’Donnell reports that “the cosmetic surgery field has a generally accepted level of mortality of one for every 50,000 surgeries, according to widely cited reports.” She then reports that “Strax… has a rate of four deaths in 90,000, which makes Strax’s mortality rate almost twice what’s considered acceptable in cosmetic surgery.”

Let’s be clear: O’Donnell’s stats show that cosmetic surgery rarely results in death or injury. However, her stats also show that surgery centers that see a considerably large number of patients annually may also have higher injury and death rates.

When it comes to medical procedures, the importance should always be safety. If you are considering cosmetic surgery, you should do the appropriate research to make sure you are putting yourself in the safest hands.